Aftershock 2015: Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots were one of the Aftershock bands I was most looking forward to.

Their struggles with original frontman Scott Weiland are well known, and of course they resulted in the demise of the band. In 2013 they hooked up with singer Chester Bennington for their current lineup.

Bennington is a solid singer, and with the remainder of the band still intact expectations were high. They brought the hits and the crowd sang along with every familiar word.

But something was missing.

My hunch is that although the current lineup of STP is probably more professional and polished than the band has ever been, the results lack Weiland’s energy. Yes, on a bad Weiland day an STP show was a disaster, but on a good day they were brilliant. There’s no arguing that the troubled front man possesses a sort of rock star swagger that is very rare.

That being said, I don’t want to knock STP. The crowd loved them, and good on them for surviving the last two decades. But as good as they played, I missed the excitement.